It was a sad sight.
They were nearly at the end of their supplies, and they had intended to renew them at Fort Providence. The impossibility of pa.s.sing the winter there was evident. Like people accustomed to decide rapidly, they determined to reach Baffin"s Bay as soon as possible.
"We have nothing else to do," said the doctor; "Baffin"s Bay is not six hundred miles from here; we might sail as far as our launch would carry us, reach Jones"s Sound, and from there the Danish settlements."
"Yes," answered Altamont; "let us collect all the provisions we can, and leave."
By strict search they found a few chests of pemmican here and there, and two barrels of preserved meat, which had escaped destruction. In short, they had a supply for six weeks, and powder enough. This was promptly collected. The day was devoted to calking the launch, repairing it, and the next day, July 24th, they put out to sea again.
The continent towards lat.i.tude 83 inclined towards the east. It was possible that it joined the countries known under the name of Grinnell Land, Ellesmere, and North Lincoln, which form the coast-line of Baffin"s Bay. They could then hold it for certain that Jones"s Sound opened in the inner seas, like Lancaster Sound. The launch then sailed without much difficulty, easily avoiding the floating ice. The doctor, by way of precaution against possible delay, put them all on half-rations; but this did not trouble them much, and their health was unimpaired.
Besides, they were able to shoot occasionally; they killed ducks, geese, and other game, which gave them fresh and wholesome food. As for their drink, they had a full supply from the floating ice, which they met on the way, for they took care not to go far from the coast, the launch being too small for the open sea.
At this period of the year the thermometer was already, for the greater part of time, beneath the freezing-point; after a certain amount of rainy weather snow began to fall, with other signs of the end of summer; the sun sank nearer the horizon, and more and more of its disk sank beneath it every day. July 30th they saw it disappear for the first time, that is to say, they had a few minutes of night.
Still, the launch sailed well, sometimes making from sixty to seventy-five miles a day; they did not stop a moment; they knew what fatigues to endure, what obstacles to surmount; the way by land was before them, if they had to take it, and these confined seas must soon be closed; indeed, the young ice was already forming here and there.
Winter suddenly succeeds summer in these lat.i.tudes; there are no intermediate seasons; no spring, no autumn. So they had to hurry. July 31st, the sky being clear at sunset, the first stars were seen in the constellations overhead. From this day on there was perpetual mist, which interfered very much with their sailing. The doctor, when he saw all the signs of winter"s approach, became very uneasy; he knew the difficulties Sir John Ross had found in getting to Baffin"s Bay, after leaving his ship; and indeed, having once tried to pa.s.s the ice, he was obliged to return to his ship, and go into winter-quarters for the fourth year; but he had at least a shelter against the weather, food, and fuel. If such a misfortune were to befall the survivors of the _Forward_, if they had to stop or put back, they were lost; the doctor did not express his uneasiness to his companions; but he urged them to get as far eastward as possible.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Finally, August 15th, after thirty days of rather good sailing, after struggling for forty-eight hours against the ice, which was acc.u.mulating, after having imperilled their little launch a hundred times, they saw themselves absolutely stopped, unable to go farther; the sea was all frozen, and the thermometer marked on an average +15.
Moreover, in all the north and east it was easy to detect the nearness of land, by the presence of pebbles; frozen fresh water was found more frequently. Altamont made an observation with great exactness, and found they were in lat.i.tude 77 15", and longitude 85 2".
"So, then," said the doctor, "this is our exact position; we have reached North Lincoln, exactly at Cape Eden; we are entering Jones"s Sound; if we had been a little luckier, we should have found the sea open to Baffin"s Bay. But we need not complain. If my poor Hatteras had at first found so open a sea, he would have soon reached the Pole, his companions would not have deserted him, and he would not have lost his reason under his terrible sufferings!"
"Then," said Altamont, "we have only one course to follow; to abandon the launch, and get to the east coast of Lincoln by sledge."
"Abandon the launch and take the sledge? Well," answered the doctor; "but instead of crossing Lincoln, I propose going through Jones"s Sound on the ice, and reaching North Devon."
"And why?" asked Altamont.
"Because we should get nearer to Lancaster Sound, and have more chance of meeting whalers."
"You are right, Doctor, but I am afraid the ice is not yet hard enough."
"We can try," said Clawbonny.
The launch was unloaded; Bell and Johnson put the sledge together; all its parts were in good condition. The next day the dogs were harnessed in, and they went along the coast to reach the ice-field.
Then they began again the journey which has been so often described; it was tiresome and slow; Altamont was right in doubting the strength of the ice; they could not go through Jones"s Sound, and they had to follow the coast of Lincoln.
August 21st they turned to one side and reached the entrance of Glacier Sound; then they ventured upon the ice-field, and the next day they reached Cobourg Island, which they crossed in less than two days amid snow-squalls. They could advance more easily on the ice-fields, and at last, August 24th, they set foot on North Devon.
"Now," said the doctor, "we have only to cross this, and reach Cape Warender, at the entrance of Lancaster Sound."
But the weather became very cold and unpleasant; the snow-squalls became as violent as in winter; they all found themselves nearly exhausted. Their provisions were giving out, and each man had but a third of a ration, in order to allow to the dogs enough food in proportion to their work.
The nature of the ground added much to the fatigue of the journey; North Devon was far from level; they had to cross the Trauter Mountains by almost impa.s.sable ravines, struggling against all the fury of the elements. The sledge, men, and dogs had to rest, and more than once despair seized the little band, hardened as it was to the fatigues of a polar journey. But, without their noticing it, these poor men were nearly worn out, physically and morally; they could not support such incessant fatigue for eighteen months with impunity, nor such a succession of hopes and despairs. Besides, it should be borne in mind that they went forward with enthusiasm and conviction, which they lacked when returning. So they with difficulty dragged on; they walked almost from habit, with the animal energy left almost independent of their will.
It was not until August 30th that they at last left the chaos of mountains, of which one can form no idea from the mountains of lower zones, but they left it half dead. The doctor could no longer cheer up his companions, and he felt himself breaking down. The Trauter Mountains ended in a sort of rugged plain, heaped up at the time of the formation of the mountains. There they were compelled to take a few days of rest; the men could not set one foot before another; two of the dogs had died of exhaustion. They sheltered themselves behind a piece of ice, at a temperature of -2; no one dared put up the tent.
Their food had become very scanty, and, in spite of their extreme economy with their rations, they had a supply for but a week more; game became rarer, having left for a milder climate. Starvation threatened these exhausted men.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Altamont, who all along had shown great devotion and unselfishness, took advantage of the strength he had left, and resolved to procure by hunting some food for his companions. He took his gun, called Duke, and strode off for the plains to the north; the doctor, Johnson, and Bell saw him go away without much interest. For an hour they did not once hear his gun, and they saw him returning without firing a single shot; but he was running as if in great alarm.
"What is the matter?" asked the doctor.
"There! under the snow!" answered Altamont in great alarm, indicating a point in the horizon.
"What?"
"A whole band of men--"
"Alive?"
"Dead,--frozen,--and even--"
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Dead--frozen."]
The American durst not finish his sentence, but his face expressed clearly his horror. The doctor, Johnson, Bell, aroused by this incident, were able to rise, and drag themselves along in Altamont"s footprints to the part of the plain to which he had pointed. They soon reached a narrow s.p.a.ce, at the bottom of a deep ravine, and there a terrible sight met their eyes.
Bodies were lying half buried beneath the snow; here an arm, there a leg, or clinched hands, and faces still preserving an expression of despair.
The doctor drew near; then he stepped back, pale and agitated, while Duke barked mournfully.
"Horror!" he said.
"Well?" asked the boatswain.
"Didn"t you recognize them?" said the doctor in a strange voice.
"What do you mean?"
"Look!"
This ravine had been the scene of the last struggle between the men and the climate, despair, and hunger, for from some horrible signs it was easy to see that they had been obliged to eat human flesh. Among them the doctor had recognized Shandon, Pen, and the wretched crew of the _Forward_; their strength and food had failed them; their launch had probably been crushed by an avalanche, or carried into some ravine, and they could not take to the open sea; probably they were lost among these unknown continents. Besides, men who had left in mutiny could not long be united with the closeness which is necessary for the accomplishment of great things. A ringleader of a revolt has never more than a doubtful authority in his hands. And, without doubt, Shandon was promptly deposed.
However that may have been, the crew had evidently undergone a thousand tortures, a thousand despairs, to end with this terrible catastrophe; but the secret of their sufferings is forever buried beneath the arctic snows.
"Let us flee!" cried the doctor.
And he dragged his companions far from the scene of the disaster.
Horror lent them momentary strength. They set out again.